Quote:
Originally Posted by PsYcNeT
And how much did you pay when you bought it originally?
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Yeah, and how much money does he make? And what sort of financial start did he have in life? Parents pay for an education? Any inheritances? Were his grandparents putting money away every month into a retirement account for him from the time he was born (I know a guy who had this done for him...can you imagine!?)? How much does he save per year? Was there any parental help in buying his first home? Does he come from a reasonably wealthy family so he has a built-in safety net that isn't available to everyone?
I mean, to raise four kids, buy a house, support a dependent spouse
and save enough for retirement while taking on the risk of being the sole breadwinner with five dependents sounds like hell - particularly if you have the expectation that you're going to enjoy life along the way with a little bit of disposable income. Plus, I hope V has some good life insurance as well as disability insurance. If something happens to him, there are going to be six people total that are totally fataed. Life insurance isn't necessarily expensive, but the right amount of disability insurance is.
Not saying it can't be done, but you obviously need a high income to do it and luck to be on your side with respect to health, real estate purchase timing, vehicle reliability, pension/personal savings, the economy (no lay-offs), etc. Maybe his parents have a cabin or something they go to for down time - we all need a break, but vacations can be expensive unless you have free accommodation. There are just too many factors that this cannot be universal advice you can give to most people. You can budget all you want, but you really have to make a single income go far to accomplish the above. Plus, imagine if you have a kid with special needs or if you want to save for their education - forget any of that.